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Elliot Leinheart
Elliot Lienheart looked down at the log shed written wishing she could actually submit it. Captain Lienheart, Elliot Berra System Log 103 This is what I get. I graduated first in my class from Gnidleiynu and, instead of being rewarded, I get stuck in charge of a group of lazy half-assed soldiers at an outpost in a backwater system where I’m sure I will never see action. This is what I get for being the daughter of the famous General Lienheart. Now I'm a national treasure, a figurehead pulled out for special occasions. If I hadn't preformed so well at the Battle of Autonomy, as they're now calling it, maybe I would still be that rookie with a bright future. However, it is now evident that I will be taking after my father. A famous war hero himself, he has quite the number of statues in his honor, I wonder when I‘ll be getting one. I sound bitter, I know, but if I had known that the reward for keeping an expensive satellite from exploding was a tiny command that made sure I would come to as little harm as possible, so I would be alive to make speeches and look nice at parties, maybe I would have told you that Johnson stopped the self-destruct sequence before he had been killed by enemy troops. After all, he was dead and it might have been some comfort to his family. He would have died a hero, like he always wanted. '' ''I respect the government and what it stands for. That rebellion had to be put down. They were endangering the innocent lives of all the researchers on that satellite and I'm glad that I stopped the destruct sequence that they used as their last ditch effort. They knew they couldn’t keep the satellite, our troops are too well trained, so they tried to blow it up instead. If I’m not a hero of the people, I’m a hero of all the business owners that invested in the satellite's research projects. I don't think that's much of a consolation prize. Despite all of this I like my job. This is what I chose to be, not just because of my father but because I want to make a difference. What I’m doing right now? That’s not making shit. Gritting her teeth she pressed the delete button and wrote her usual monthly report. It was fairly succinct because, apart from the occasional miner with engine problems, there was nothing to report about this mostly deserted sector of space. Sending off the log she stood up and left her quarters, needing something to keep her busy. On her way to the Aegis hanger she heard Jenkins in the mess telling one story or another about his latest conquest. Rodnac wasn't manning his post, no one was, as usual. She slipped into the mess and sidled up behind Jenkins. "And then I said 'common baby you're not gonna let all this go to waste, are ya?" Elliot couldn't see his face but she knew he was grinning in good-natured belief of his own appeal to the opposite sex. One well aimed kick to the leg of the plastic foldable table he was sitting on and it collapsed onto the floor bringing him along with it. "Captain, beautiful as usual." He said while heaving himself up. She supposed it was true. Unlike many of her female compatriots Captain Elliot Lienheart did not believe respect came from a severe bun and a no nonsense attitude. To her actions spoke for themselves. "Jenkins, how did you manage to get your credentials from Gnidleiynu?" "I don’t think my lovely tactical professor would appreciate me telling you that particular story." He replied in usual style. "Get to your post Jenkins, and if you see Rodnac tell him the same” "Sir yes Sir." He saluted in an over exaggerated fashion. She could only shake her head. Elliot made them work harder then any of the previous captains of this outpost, but she wasn't out to make their lives hell. After all they had to live on this godforsaken rock together and they might as well make the best of it. "I'm taking out an Aegis on stealth mode, contact me if any problems arise." Inwardly she shook her head and thought, “The only problem they would contact me with is if one of them accidentally lit the mess on fire, which is bound to happen I'm sure”. * * * When she got back to the base there was nothing Elliot could do but watch while it was destroyed. Recognizing the Aegis' of the Colonists was easy enough. They stole them from the military bases they attacked or salvaged old models and this particular group had decided to paint theirs in personalized garish colors, their own personal steeds of mindless destruction. They shouldn't be here. Letting a small amount of guilt seep in, Elliot let a harsh sound escape her throat, “They very well could be here for me. Of course they would want revenge for keeping their plans from fruition,” she thought. Taking a scan of the area she saw a small dot labeled “Jenkins” running from the direction of the main building. Turing on visual she noted he was half dressed and had only one shoe. Over his shoulder he was carrying Rodnac and in his hand was a grenade launcher which he hurriedly aimed at the closest enemy Aegis. Against the logic a part of her brain was yelling and the training as a commander that she had received, Elliot switched to combat mode. Sliding the controls in her right hand down the Aegis extended its close combat weapon and sped toward the closest enemy. It was an older model, made in the beginning of the last decade by a Swiss engineer who was later killed by his mistress. It was not Elliot’s military training but her father’s hobby of Aegis history that afforded her a cursory knowledge of many different Aegis types past and present. Knowing this model, and its weaknesses she crouched low and darted around to the back sliding her Aegis’ CoreCord into the slot located at the base of the older combat units’ neck plate. The enemies’ sensors were scrambled as she jammed my weapon through the weak neck plate and the pilot inside. Closing her eyes, only for a second, Elliot braced herself and removed both the weapon and the CoreCord then turned to check the progress of Jenkins. He had taken cover behind a ruined storage building. Quickly dispatching two more of the enemy she switched back to stealth mode and made her way toward the newest model guessing that it might belong to their leader. Before she got close to him he spun around and Elliot knew, before the sensors dinged a warning, that he was locked on to her. Darting toward the enemy Aegis Elliot engaged it and tried to disrupt its sensors. She plugged in her CoreCord and felt her eyes widen as her own sensors picked up his self destruct sequence just before everything flared white and then dark. When she woke up Elliot coughed trying to suck air into her lungs. Bracing herself she tried to breath out slowly and access the situation. She moved, just a little, but even that was agony. Looking down she saw a bit of debris jutting out of her mid-section. She took another shallow breath trying to will herself calm. Moving forward gingerly she tried to access the Aegis’ movement systems but the entire thing was fried. Reaching down took more effort than she’d hoped and there were tears streaming from her eyes with the pain. Finally managing to pull out the first aid kit she pulled out a black nondescript spray bottle with “FoamyEX” printed in the smallest possible lettering on the bottom of the can. She pressed the button and sighed in relief as the pain disappeared altogether. Gritting her teeth she tried to move again then renewed her efforts to escape this, now useless, husk of metal. Even though the pain was gone and the bleeding stopped Elliot knew that she could cause internal damage if she moved too much or tried to remove the piece of metal. Every time she shifted positions she could feel the metal move inside giving her a disgusting sickly feeling. Looking above her she was pleased to note the escape hatch seemed mostly intact standing in her chair, as it could no longer respond to the fried eject controls, she keyed in the manual override and pushed the hatch open an inch or two surveying her surroundings. There was nothing around her but dead Aegis and dead enemies. Walking slowly Eliot made her way back to what was left of her first command.